NEW ORLEANS – Travis Kelce was nearly at the end of his news conference Thursday morning when it was suggested that maybe he doesn’t have the same spring in his legs or perhaps gets caught from behind more often than he used to in the open field before he was explicitly asked if he thinks he’s lost a step.
Kelce, 35, smiled good-naturedly while pounding a fist against his lectern a few times just days before his Kansas City Chiefs face the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl 59.
“That’s motivation right there, isn’t it?” the 10-time Pro Bowl tight end asked rhetorically.
“I’ve been eating clean, I haven’t been drinking as much, I’m a little lower on the pounds this week. So, hopefully I can run away from some Eagles out there.” (More on that later.)
It was a fairly playful response to a fairly playful question posed by former NFL linebacker Will Compton. But the notion that Kelce is slowing down gained steam this season – his worst statistically in terms of yards per game (51.4), yards per reception (8.5), total receiving yards (823) and touchdowns (3) since he was a rookie in 2013, when he didn’t play one offensive snap.
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Yet Kelce’s resurgence in the postseason, where he’s established any number of records (particularly at his position), has reaffirmed what an important component he is to the Chiefs as they try to complete the first Super Bowl three-peat Sunday.
“We’ve heard all year long, ‘Kelce’s lost a step,’ this and that. Then all of a sudden the playoffs come – they know how to turn it up another notch,” Fox analyst and Hall of Famer Charles Woodson told USA TODAY Sports, citing Kelce’s intelligence and craftiness and Kansas City quarterback Patrick Mahomes’ ability to extend plays.
“Those guys understand every inch of the field. So, there’s gonna be big plays that are gonna be made on Sunday where you’re gonna see Travis Kelce is going to be wide open, and you’re going to wonder why the hell he is wide open. Because he understands where to be, and he knows his quarterback is going to be able to get it to him.”
But why the hell is Kelce, Mahomes’ favorite target over the past seven seasons, constantly open? Especially in the most high-leverage situations?
“We all game plan, we scout our opponents, we see the way you’re lined up, we know the situation, so we know sometimes where a guy is supposed to be,” explained Woodson.
“The problem becomes when that play breaks down, and then Mahomes starts moving – now you’re kind of in a conundrum. Because you try to figure out ‘Do I leave this post and try to go help out and stop Mahomes or help on another receiver, or do I stay with Kelce?’
“People vacate the zone, all of a sudden there’s Kelce – the ball’s gonna hit him in the numbers. It’s tough to guard against.”
Just ask the Houston Texans, who were burned by Kelce for seven receptions and 117 yards, including a 49-yarder, in the divisional round. Kelce also found a soft spot in the end zone and practically stood still as Mahomes hit him off a scramble for the decisive fourth-quarter touchdown.
“The two of them are always talking about how they see the field. Travis sees it as a quarterback, because that’s obviously what he started as, and he keeps that mindset,” Kansas City tight ends coach Tom Melvin told USA TODAY Sports, while referencing Kelce’s football roots.
“So he’s able to talk with Pat about that. The two of them are so fast on how they can see things … obviously have great chemistry.”
Chiefs linebacker Cole Christiansen has repeatedly witnessed and been victimized by Kelce’s savant-level feel for the game during practice.
“Oh, he’s brilliant,” Christiansen told USA TODAY Sports. “I don’t know how much of it is X’s and O’s on paper but more his ability to know where he is on the field, and his savviness and technique are elite. That’s what makes him so unique. I know he’s smart X’s and O’s-wise, but I do know that he ad-libs all the time – him and Pat both do go off-script – and it’s Travis’ ability to weave and lean … that kind of thing is what makes him so good.
“He’s Pat’s escape valve, because he knows he’s gonna get open eventually one way or another – if Pat gets in trouble, Travis is going to find a way to get open.”
A superstar practice player with an evolved attitude
While he may go down as the greatest tight end in NFL history, Kelce’s pop culture footprint has grown way beyond that in recent years thanks to his occasional acting, commercials, the very popular “New Heights” podcast he co-hosts with his brother (former Eagles All-Pro center Jason Kelce), and – of course – his high-profile relationship with singer Taylor Swift, perhaps the most recognizable woman on the planet.
Yet when asked about Kelce, K.C. players unfailingly cite his relentless work ethic between games.
“Even in my rookie year, just seeing how he worked – I mean, like, you see Travis Kelce, and you see obviously being on TV shows, or having the personality that everyone loves, and being the fun guy and being funny,” said Mahomes. “But people don’t understand how hard he works on a day-to-day basis. He continues to work that hard even to this day. That motivates me to know that I can’t be complacent with where I’m at.
“He’s getting older, so we’re trying to like cut back some of his reps, and he won’t do it. He gets mad at you if you take him out of practice. That feeds into the entire team. Whenever you’re tired, and whenever you’re not wanting to take a practice seriously or take a rep seriously – you look at him, and he’s going full speed, scoring touchdowns every catch. And it motivates you to take your game up to another level.”
Why such an unrelenting approach when the cameras are off and after a dozen seasons when the NFL has taken a toll on his body?
“Those (moments) are how you find real answers,” said Kelce. “Practicing a hundred miles per hour is the only way you find that timing with the quarterbacks, you find that feel for the defenses and the zones you gotta find.”
And the investment of so much time is something that can’t be replicated for a franchise that’s already an established dynasty but now on the verge of uncharted historical territory.
“I’m doing everything within the scheme. So, Coach (Andy) Reid’s scheme has given me the ability to find those voids for Pat. It’s a full, I don’t know, science experiment when you put all the pieces together, I guess. It’s just a lot of fun, man,” Kelce continued. “So we’ve just been building this thing and getting on the same page.”
Yet the grind with Mahomes and his other teammates also represents a shift in Kelce’s thinking through the years, from inwardly focused to collectively focused.
“Early on in my career, I think a lot of my motivation was driven off of individual success,” he said, “wanting to get that acknowledgment (from) my peers, of the people watching the game, that I was somebody fun to watch, or I was worth watching, or I was worth having on your team.
‘Nowadays, it’s just – I just love going to work with the guys that I’m in the building with. I love sharing these memories, I love figuring out these game plans, figuring out how we’re going to attack a defense. There’s just a certain love that I’ve found in it, and I think it’s because of the people that I go to work with.”
Melvin says Kelce is counseling every player in the huddle – during practice and games – whether he be the primary option or the fourth one, advising them how to affect a play and search for ways he can set his teammates up for success.
“I used to really, really care about that, man, like I used to want to be known as the greatest tight end ever,” Kelce admits. “But I think it’s just more so just enjoying these moments that I have with my teammates and trying to get these wins and create these memories. This entire year has been such a battle for every single person that comes into that building every week.
“I’ve gotten away from wanting to be known as that. I think I want to be known as one of the best teammates these guys have ever had.”
Even if, as he says, it wasn’t always that way.
“It’s night and day different, I was a lot more focused on individual success,” said Kelce. “I think with that individual success, I’ve started to really understand what’s real. And what’s real is, this game’s only fun when you win football games with the people around you, man. Once I figured that out, it really just took off for me, and I’ve loved playing in the league ever since, man.”
What’s next for Kelce, Chiefs as retirement questions linger?
Always in great demand by media members, Kelce tends to be one of Kansas City’s best interviews, typically giving expansive, thoughtful answers – even to the most inane questions. And he spent a fair amount of time during Super Bowl week both reflecting and looking ahead regarding a career that could be in its twilight … if not its conclusion.
“I thought that I was gonna be the next best quarterback ever and save the Cleveland Browns,” said Kelce, an Ohio native who used to be a part-time quarterback at the University of Cincinnati before switching to his familiar position.
“Found out that my place in this world was to be a tight end. And, I’ll tell you what, I really transitioned into loving the game of football so much more once I got into the tight end position, because it just suited who I was as a person so much more.”
Indeed. His 1,004 career receptions are more than any active player. His 174 catches in the playoffs are an all-time record, 23 more than Jerry Rice, and he needs two more TD grabs to match Rice’s all-time postseason record (22). With three snags Sunday, Kelce will overtake Rice (33) for the most career Super Bowl receptions.
Yet he’s felt his role with the Chiefs evolving and even feels like some of his biggest contributions this season didn’t come on game day.
“I feel like this year I kinda stepped into a role of being more of a voice for the guys – I mean we have a lot of new faces,” said Kelce.
“Just being able to be there for the young guys and help them understand the offense better and hopefully understand how to weather the storm of a week like this.”
But for a guy purportedly slowing down, he could still be the storm against Philadelphia.
In last year’s overtime victory against the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl 58, Kelce hit the accelerator to reach 19.68 mph on a 22-yard reception that set up the game-tying field goal for Kansas City in the waning seconds of regulation. He hadn’t been timed that fast in a game in seven years.
Which is why the Eagles would be wise not to take him lightly, and why Kelce says he probably has a lot left to give to the game as a player.
“I got a full heart of football left in me. I really love this game,” he said.
“It’s moments like these – the playoffs, these memories that I’ll have with the teammates and coaches that I’d go to war with – wanting to keep that legacy or keep finding new ways to create those memories I think will just keep fueling me and my love for football.”
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